My 93 2.3l ranger is acting up a bit and im wanting to make sure i knwo whats wrong with it before i start dumping money into the block. (im extremely pressed for money)

On idle the engine doesnt quite knock, you can just feel that its not running right. a bit too rough of vibrations. also upon startup i get a very rich oil smelling white smoke. I have a feeling that its got something to do with the timing but i have no idea how to adjust it. I wasnt too sure if thats something i could do on my own or not. I had jsut gotten my oil changed and its not helping either of the problems.

i checked around on here and other sites and it seems that the head gasket is the culprit and i didnt know which it could be and how to tell.

i appreciate any feedback

-jordan

 

check you r oil and see if it has water in, if it does its your head gasket. and also check you coolant resoavor and see if it looks like chocolate milk.